mmonster

hi Thai-Kiwi and everyone, I am new to flyertalk! I have been on the 777-300ER with AirNZ last week and I look forward to be on it! Hence I am thinking of flying to MEL on Sat/Sun

Thai-Kiwi, can you please confirm that I can select PE seats with "The works"? I was thinking for a moment if I need Work Deluxe... but then not sure...

Many thanks!

and yes, the corridors are very very narrow in PE... I need to keep to saying excuse me and "presses" through people during the tour..

Top of climb

You can select seats in the PE section of the 77W on non-Works Deluxe fares only if you are Air NZ Gold, Gold Elite, Koru or Star Alliance Gold. Otherwise a Works fare will entitle you to normal Economy seating only.

Works Deluxe fares are seated in the PE section irrespective of status.

Welcome to FT

mmonster

Many thanks for this, Top of Climb..
I am on NZ Gold =) and hoping that I can maintain it coz I will not fly as much this year... >_____<.... so I can just book in "the works"?

=)


haha.. I have booked and secured PE seat 23D on 773 on "the works"

thanks

Rebound

or the first 2 rows of Economy have two seats of 2 seats on each side

trooper

serfty...

Yes, that may well be the case... but I am a little doubtful about it.. as I booked quite early.. and the whole row 23 was greyed out even then..

Not overly fussed (hoping like heck of course thet the requested cert UG comes through anyway!)... but if 23D is/becomes available then it looks pretty good to me...

ajnz

Route: NZ5 LAX-AKL
Day/Night flight: Night
Cabin / Seat No. (aisle / window / middle): Premium Economy 30E
Seat comfort (width ok?): Width was acceptable, overall comfort was fairly low (see below).
Legroom: Very poor.
Ease of getting in and out: Fairly reasonable.
Food: Very good.
Drink: Very good (until NZ*Trout broke his).
FA attentiveness: Very good; but noted that there were extra crew on the aircraft as well as the concierge helping out with the service, and that the crew looked very tired at the end of the service, I think that NZ will have to do more here.
AVOD: Screen is nice, although the lack of polarisation is a negative as it increases the cabin light pollution in a very white cabin. The IFE itself was nice, relatively responsive (although not good enough, imho), but it crashed four or five times on me - the first before we had departed.
Would you do it again?: Probably not.
Other thoughts?: Lots!

Unfortunately I was seated next to NZ*Trout on this sector so my view is somewhat skewed. We originally had 27J and 28J, but were able to snag 30D/30E about 48 hours from departure.

The cabin is very white and very nice looking, although I think they will struggle to keep it looking so pure. There is a lot of plane for boarding passengers to walk through, so I'd strongly recommend boarding very late for Business or PE passengers. We boarded relatively early and learned this error quickly.

I really wanted to like the seat, because of the marketing I'd read and seen about it. I had never visited Hangar 9 so I did not know what to expect, but I was sorely disappointed by it. The legroom is utterly pathetic and definitely worse than a domestic 733 in Space+, and I was overall uncomfortable on the flight. I did sleep in it... but I can sleep on pretty much anything and in any class of service.

Seat thoughts:
- The tilt function is worthless, except to remind you that un-tilted is less uncomfortable than tilted.
- There are lots of usability bugs in the design: e.g. the handset for the IFE should be in the seatback infront of you. There is no cupholder which could either go in the seatback or in the middle 'divider'. The middle divider has to be down for takeoff and landing. The headphone plug is not on the seat infront of you, but to the side so you potentially have cords wrapped around you. They use a non-standard video connector for iPod etc attachment (!). All extremely minor stuff but you do have to wonder about it - these were assessments made in about the first 90 seconds of sitting in the seat.
- The width is fine, I was relatively comfortable in that regard.
- The recline is basically a joke and severely impacts the legroom you have. In my case I went from one leg hard up against the seat in front to two, which was very uncomfortable.
- The legroom overall is extremely poor and I was disappointed. Removing a row from the aircraft would probably help this a lot. The lack of legroom does also make it look / feel a bit weird climbing in and out of the seat.
- There appears to be a bug in the table design in that glasses will eventually slide off it if left unattended (and not for long periods!). The meals are served on a rubberised mat for traction which is a good idea, but the table slope when weight is applied will be a problem.
- I didn't try to use my laptop in the seat but I can't say I'd feel it's (comfortably) feasible.
- TV placement is weird. It's either in the seat back or right in front of your eyeballs.
- If you are travelling as a couple, the orientation of the seat ensures you will get a sore back after about 45 minutes trying to talk to/maintain eye contact with each other. I solved this by ignoring NZ*T but it's not wonderful. I noticed a couple in 27AB were also finding it a bit weird to work with.
- Observation from a colleague is that the JK seats are awful; and there is an additional pair of seats on the starboard side which makes me wonder if there is less pitch vs port.

The food and drink was great - it does seem like an improvement. I had heard from the crew that there were significant problems with the new ovens on the aircraft, and by my flight (6th revenue Pacific sector) they were operating with a mix of old and new ovens. The crew were attentive but they were very busy in dealing with the service, and noted that they had additional crew onboard to support the introduction. I really think they will struggle with this.

The IFE's ordering service intermittently worked - some things were disabled for various parts of the flights without rhyme nor reason. NZ*Trout was able to order a toasted sandwich which arrived, but mine didn't. His ordered iPod video connector did not arrive (and the crew had indicated during taxi that these would be available for purchase, but the ordering system on the IFE did not reflect this).

I specifically booked this flight to try out the new seat since I'm finally living in an NZ served port so will likely be back on NZ metal again, but I'm pretty depressed about it. I had really wanted to like this and for it to work out, but overall the impression is a net negative due to the seat. I'll continue to book Premium Economy, but only on the older metal. After that I'll book Economy and get an exit row (although I really shudder when I think of Economy on the 10-abreast layout, given NZ*Trout's comments).

There was a Canadian passenger seated behind me who did like the seat a lot; but he was comparing it to EK Y...

And finally, yes I recognise that this is premium ECONOMY, not PREMIUM economy, but the fare charged for product delivered on some sectors are starting to get into the PREMIUM ECONOMY levels. For USD2500 return I wasn't unhappy, but I will avoid the new seats as much as possible.

Interlude

Negative reviews of the economy seating are now circulating in the mainstream media...hope NZ's official response is not the same as reported was given by the FA ("if you don't like it, you should have flown business"). But what possible response could NZ give anyway??? The proof of the pudding is now out in the open.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/new...ectid=10704723

Interlude

Not exactly a review, but here's reported concern from FA's re cuddle class. But didn't the pathetic sleazebag Rico seem to hint with a nudge and wink that this was one of the very reasons why pax should consider cuddle class?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/new...ectid=10623294

Zaco

Just a quick post as I've been scanning this thread - I will come back and tidy this and add detail when I get a minute to sit down. I flew on the 777-300 Business Premier AKL-LAX 2 weeks ago today - absolutely bowled over - fantastic. I had high expectations for this new plane and they were well exceeded. Just a few highlights:

- bed is now extremely comfortable, to be exact the padding on the seat is much thicker and softer, you can't feel the ridges at the joins. Then, on top of that, you get a 5cm memory foam mattress - cumulative effect is it is more comfortable than my bed at home and by far the most comfortable bed I've slept in on an aircraft
- food is bistro on the ground quality. The FAs bring around an extensive menu and ask what you'd like to order - basically pick and choose from anything. Eg I had a ceasar salad, followed by an excellent burger (I was going comfort food) freshly cooked with cheese just melting on a real toasted bun, then pavlova and ice cream. The gent in front of me had a salad as a main then went straight to sleep, others were having pizza, others decided to go gourmet and went for the top end chefs creations. Service was fine - eg the salad gent was served about 30 mins after reaching cruise and was asleep at 45 - I believe they're still working on this
- crew absolutely loved the new plane, and were excellent despite the fact they are obviously working harder
- breakfast - loads of options, but my favourite is the continental buffet that is set up in the middle galley. Just like a hotel, no waiting for service just go grab a plate or bowl and help yourself from a range of things include cereals, fruit, breads, toast, sliced cheese and meats etc.
- plane is ultra stylish, and because the cabin is white it effectively changes colour throughout the flight - it's never actually white. Eg on boarding it's all mood lighting purple, at night they used dark blues and purple, morning you get a mix of mood lighting and the natural light reflecting off the white surfaces as the sun comes up. It probably looks white on the ground, but in flight it really comes alive and I found it extremely relaxing.

In short - BP is stunning.

Cheers, Zac

jeffrocowboy

I did raise this as a potential issue way back when these seats were announced - will be interested to see how this pans out.

jeffrocowboy

maybe this is the official line, i certainly was told at the 777-300 open day when I commented that it seemed very cramped at the back that I should book PE or BP

do you think AirNZ will respond?

ajnz

To be fair, that is a pretty valid response by the flight attendant. I don't like Y, so I try to avoid it where I can (my personal travel is rarely in Y; while work usually is). The review is also somewhat questionable given that it refers to NZ's new First Class product. Ahem...

Interesting that the cuddle class concern article refers to passengers already cuddling up together in Business Premier - I had often wondered if that was actually feasible. Of course NZ has somewhat encouraged these sort of antics on the aircraft with their Love Flight in the past; and I know at least one member on here has a special membership that the crew congratulated him for.

birder

Actually, I don't think that's a valid response - people who have flown Air NZ economy are used to a certain amount of room. Now, when they fly the new aircraft, they will find their personal space dramatically reduced from what they were used to on Air NZ. It will piss people off, and no wonder.

ajnz

There is little alternative: the crew cannot reconfigure the aircraft (and especially not while in flight, although that would be entertaining).

If you don't like the lack of space (I don't), don't fly it [in the cabin class you dislike]. I flew the aircraft, unimpressed by it, and will redirect spend accordingly - either to competitive carriers in Y or to alternate cabins.

bce1

Thats exactly right isnt it. Air New Zealand made business decisions around how they would do things. Im fortunate to fly J long-haul and love the new product. I quite liked PE understanding many of you havent and I would rather not travel than go long-haul in the new economy.

Where we as customers spend our money is our business decision. The new BP will keep me at NZ. They need to judge if the economy product will pull customers.